Ep. 135 (Part 1 of 2) | Criminal justice professor and constitutional law expert Mark Fischler does a brilliant job of deepening our understanding of the challenges facing our democracy, our legal system, and our public morality. How did the democratic process and the values it represents—equality and liberty for all—come to be teetering on the brink? Mark illuminates the fact that the Constitution is not a set-in-stone document, but eminently open to interpretation, and explains that its interpretation is a direct reflection of the worldviews of the Supreme Court justices. In fact, the whole process of democracy needs to be aligned with a certain level of development in order to deliver. Mark points out that democracy hasn’t served all of us, and urges us to explore who and in what ways it has failed, that we may work to correct its flaws and continue to uphold and expand the values foundational to democracy to include respecting and protecting the rights of all beings.

Mark contrasts the moral integrity of revered public figures such as Socrates and Dr. King, who honored the rule of law despite that it went against their own self interest, with the disregard for the law so prevalent among political figures today, and points out that democracy can be subverted not only by malicious intent, but also by misplaced idealism—when people feel that supporting a charismatic leader or ideology is more important than supporting the principles of democracy. With regard to the Trump trials, the question arises, is any human above the law? Mark also shares where he finds hope—in his own university students with their openness to a deeper ethical understanding and responsibility and willingness to undertake civic action. Mark urges all of us who care about democracy to become engaged now. His wise, integral, highly informed insights about the current state of the legal system and of democracy, here and around the world, are revelatory, alarming, and inspiring in turn. Recorded May 22, 2024.

“Democracy really only functions properly when there is a foundational rule of law.”

Topics & Time Stamps – Part 1

Introducing criminal justice professor and integral expert on constitutional law, Mark Fischler (01:32)
The hush money trial: you can’t disengage the politics (03:46)
Is any human being above the rule of law? (06:16)
It was ethical Republicans that got Nixon to resign; now a cult-like status exists in the party (07:36)
How people like Supreme Court Justice Alito’s wife and Justice Thomas’ wife have bought into the Stop the Steal idea, supporting the idea that the 2020 election was false (10:15)
Impeachment is the most direct form of accountability in the Supreme Court (12:50)
Understanding the nature of the current Supreme Court and how the Constitution gets interpreted according to the justices’ worldviews (14:12)
The Citizens United case where the Supreme Court ruled to give corporations the right to freedom of speech (17:31)
The current Supreme Court is hostile to the Union movement, to regulation around land use, to green, pluralistic values—it’s all about protecting individual rights (20:13)
The Constitution is not the solid document we might think, but is very open to interpretation (23:35)
The Federalist Society and the rise of originalism (24:35)
The beginning of culture wars in the Supreme Court and how Supreme Court nominee Robert Borg applied originalism to abortion (29:33)
Selective interpretation of the Constitution and originalist interpretations of the 2nd and 8th Amendments...

Mark Fischler (Part 1) - Democracy in Decline? Making Sense of the Supreme Court, the Trump Trials, and Threats to Public Morality

Deep Transformation

Mark Fischler (Part 1) - Democracy in Decline? Making Sense of the Supreme Court, the Trump Trials, and Threats to Public Morality